Methodology &amp; system for mapping a virtual human body

ABSTRACT

Described herein are embodiments of a system for presenting a computer-generated, three-dimensional visualization of anatomy. In some embodiments, the system may enable adjustments to be made to a base anatomical visualization to enable an adjusted visualization to be generated and output by the computing device. In some such embodiments, a specification of such an adjustment may include an identification of one or more anatomical features to which the adjustment corresponds and which are to be visualized with the adjustment. The visualization may correspond, for example, to a medical condition to be visualized. The medical condition may be mapped to one or more data objects of a visualization and the visualization may be adjusted based on the specification. For example, geometric information on anatomical feature may be adjusted to specify a different geometry, to indicate an impact of the medical condition on the anatomical feature.

FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to creatingthree-dimensional visualizations of anatomy, including adjusting basevisualizations of the anatomy to, for example, display supplementalcontent such as from a medical record or to visualize effects of medicalconditions.

BACKGROUND

Medical conditions and their impact on anatomy are often explainedthrough text describing the conditions. The text may identify themedical condition as well as explain how an appearance of an anatomicalfeature may change as a result of the medical condition. In some cases,the text may be accompanied by static, two-dimensional images, such asillustrations/drawings or photographs. The images may be in two parts,such as an image showing a “normal” anatomical feature for comparisonwith an image showing the anatomical feature affected by the medicalcondition.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, there is provided a method of operating a computingsystem to generate computer-readable data representing athree-dimensional visualization of at least a portion of anatomy of ahuman body. The method comprises receiving, at the at least onecomputing device, a specification of an adjustment to be made to a basethree-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of theanatomy of the human body. The specification of the adjustment comprisesan identification of the adjustment to make and an indication of atleast one anatomical feature of the human body to which the adjustmentrelates. The method further comprises mapping, with at least oneprocessor of the at least one computing device, the indication of the atleast one anatomical feature of the human body to at least one object ofa hierarchy of objects. Each object of the hierarchy of objectscorresponds to one or more anatomical features of the human body and toone or more elements of the base three-dimensional visualization. Themethod further comprises generating, with at least one processor of theat least one first computing device, an adjusted three-dimensionalvisualization of the at least the part of the anatomy of the human bodyby adjusting the one or more elements of the base three-dimensionalvisualization based at least in part on the adjustment. The one or moreportions of the base three-dimensional visualization that are adjustedcorrespond to the one or more objects that were mapped to the at leastone anatomical feature indicated by the specification of the adjustment.The adjusted three-dimensional visualization includes the adjustment atthe one or more portions that correspond to the one or more objects.

In another embodiment, there is provided at least one non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon executableinstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe at least one processor to carry out a method of operating acomputing system to generate computer-readable data representing athree-dimensional visualization of at least a portion of anatomy of ahuman body. The method comprises receiving, at the at least onecomputing device, a specification of an adjustment to be made to a basethree-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of theanatomy of the human body. The specification of the adjustment comprisesan identification of the adjustment to make and an indication of atleast one anatomical feature of the human body to which the adjustmentrelates. The method further comprises mapping, with at least oneprocessor of the at least one computing device, the indication of the atleast one anatomical feature of the human body to at least one object ofa hierarchy of objects. Each object of the hierarchy of objectscorresponds to one or more anatomical features of the human body and toone or more elements of the base three-dimensional visualization. Themethod further comprises generating, with at least one processor of theat least one first computing device, an adjusted three-dimensionalvisualization of the at least the part of the anatomy of the human bodyby adjusting the one or more elements of the base three-dimensionalvisualization based at least in part on the adjustment. The one or moreportions of the base three-dimensional visualization that are adjustedcorrespond to the one or more objects that were mapped to the at leastone anatomical feature indicated by the specification of the adjustment.The adjusted three-dimensional visualization includes the adjustment atthe one or more portions that correspond to the one or more objects.

In a further embodiment, there is provided an apparatus comprising atleast one processor and at least one non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processorto carry out a method of operating a computing system to generatecomputer-readable data representing a three-dimensional visualization ofat least a portion of anatomy of a human body. The method comprisesreceiving, at the at least one computing device, a specification of anadjustment to be made to a base three-dimensional visualization of theat least the portion of the anatomy of the human body. The specificationof the adjustment comprises an identification of the adjustment to makeand an indication of at least one anatomical feature of the human bodyto which the adjustment relates. The method further comprises mapping,with at least one processor of the at least one computing device, theindication of the at least one anatomical feature of the human body toat least one object of a hierarchy of objects. Each object of thehierarchy of objects corresponds to one or more anatomical features ofthe human body and to one or more elements of the base three-dimensionalvisualization. The method further comprises generating, with at leastone processor of the at least one first computing device, an adjustedthree-dimensional visualization of the at least the part of the anatomyof the human body by adjusting the one or more elements of the basethree-dimensional visualization based at least in part on theadjustment. The one or more portions of the base three-dimensionalvisualization that are adjusted correspond to the one or more objectsthat were mapped to the at least one anatomical feature indicated by thespecification of the adjustment. The adjusted three-dimensionalvisualization includes the adjustment at the one or more portions thatcorrespond to the one or more objects.

The foregoing is a non-limiting summary of the invention, which isdefined by the attached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In thedrawings, each identical or nearly identical component that isillustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. Forpurposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in everydrawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of some exemplary components of a systemdescribed herein for visualizing anatomy;

FIG. 1B is a diagram of some components of a computer system with whichsome embodiments may operate;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process that may be implemented in someembodiments for processing received input regarding an adjustment to bemade for generation of an adjusted visualization;

FIG. 3 provides examples of different levels of specificity that may beused for identifying a portion of a visualization to which a requestedadjustment relates;

FIG. 4 identifies examples of types of input that may be included in arequest to adjust a visualization;

FIGS. 5A-5F depict examples of types of adjusted visualizations that maybe produced in some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an illustrative process for adjusting avisualization of anatomy;

FIGS. 7A-7B are flowcharts of processes that may be implemented in someembodiments for receiving specifications of adjustments to be made tovisualizations;

FIGS. 8A-8D are flowcharts of illustrative processes for generatingadjusted visualizations based on specifications of adjustments to bemade;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for storing informationregarding an adjusted visualization; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a computing device with which someembodiments may operate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described herein are embodiments of a system for mapping medicalconditions to a virtual human body. Some embodiments may generate athree-dimensional visualization of an entirety or a portion of humananatomy. As part of generating the three-dimensional visualization,input may be received identifying a medical condition affecting thehuman anatomy. The medical condition may be mapped to one or moreanatomical features and the three-dimensional visualization may beadjusted based on the medical condition. For example, geometricinformation on a manner of visualization an anatomical feature may beadjusted to specify a different geometry, to indicate an impact of themedical condition on the anatomical feature.

In some embodiments, a system may present a computer-generated,three-dimensional visualization of anatomy, such as by generating anddisplaying, with a computing device, a three-dimensional visualizationof a human body or a part of a human body. The three-dimensionalvisualization may include externally-visible and/or internal anatomicalfeatures, including portions of the anatomy like particular regions of abody (e.g., a limb) or particular systems (e.g., muscles, vasculature,etc.). Three-dimensional visualizations of anatomy provide an easy wayfor people to see and a potentially better way for people to understandanatomical features and interactions between anatomical features. Suchvisualizations may be fixed or animated to visualize movement ofindividual anatomical features during a movement of an organism beingvisualized (e.g., movements of individual leg muscles while walking).The visualizations may also be shown in cross-section or in other waysto assist viewers in seeing and understanding anatomy.

In some embodiments, the system may enable adjustments to be made to theanatomical visualization, to enable an adjusted visualization to begenerated and output by the computing device. In some such embodiments,a specification of such an adjustment may include an identification ofone or more anatomical features to which the adjustment corresponds andwhich are to be visualized with the adjustment. The visualization maycorrespond, for example, to a medical condition to be visualized, suchas in the case when the visualization is to correspond to a patient andthe patient's medical record indicates that the patient has or may havethe medical condition.

In some embodiments, a system may maintain a visualization of anatomy inthe form of a hierarchy of objects, where each object corresponds to oneor more anatomical features of the anatomy, such as organs or parts oforgans of a human body. Some or all of the objects may includeinformation controlling a manner in which the anatomical featurecorresponding to the object will be visualized. For example, an objectmay include geometric information controlling a three-dimensionaldisplay of the anatomical feature, and/or geometric informationcontrolling a four-dimensional display in the case that an animation isto be output.

In some embodiments, when a specification of an adjustment to be made isreceived, the system may determine from the specification anatomicalfeatures to which the adjustment relates. The system may map theidentification of anatomical features set out in the specification toone or more objects of the hierarchy of objects, where the one or moreobjects are related to the anatomical features to which the adjustmentrelates. Based on the specification of the adjustment, one or more editsto the objects and/or the visualization identified by the objects may bemade. For example, based on the adjustment, geometric informationspecified by an object may be edited such that, based on the adjustment,a different geometry is rendered for the visualization. The differentgeometry may, for example, relate to a medical condition. Accordingly,while the objects may in some embodiments identify geometries for a“normal” visualization of anatomy, edits may be made to these objects toenable different geometries for anatomical variations from normal to bevisualized.

In some embodiments, the mapping may permit the anatomical features towhich the adjustment relates to be specified using one of a variety ofdifferent anatomical coordinate systems. In some such embodiments, theindication of the anatomical feature(s) may describe the anatomicalfeature(s) using one ontology, and the adjustment facility may map theindication to another, different ontology related to the hierarchy ofobjects. Medical conditions or other adjustments may thus be specifiedat varying degrees of specificity and the system may determine whichobjects are related to the medical condition based on the mapping. Insome embodiments, performing the mapping includes determining anontology used by the specification of the adjustment, and mapping basedon that ontology.

Described below are examples of computer-implemented systems forgenerating, for display, three-dimensional visualizations of anatomy. Itshould be appreciated that embodiments are not limited to operating inaccordance with any of the examples below, as other examples arepossible.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a computer-implemented visualizationsystem with which some embodiments may operate. Computer-implementedvisualization system 100 is adapted to generate a visualization ofanatomy, including by generating an adjusted visualization based on aspecification of an adjustment to be made to a “base” visualization.

The computer system 100 of FIG. 1A includes a base visualization 102.The base visualization 102 may reflect a visualization of anatomy thatcan be modified to show variations with respect to that visualization.The base visualization may, for example, reflect a consensus “normal” or“healthy” anatomy for a species. The anatomy may be an entirety of ananatomy for a species, or may be a part of an anatomy. The part of theanatomy may be a particular region of the anatomy, such as a limb, ormay be for one or more particular types of tissues of the anatomy, suchas one or more systems of organs such as musculature, musculoskeletalsystem, nervous system, or other types of tissues. As should beappreciated from the discussion below, a visualization that is outputmay include less than all of the anatomy that is able to be generatedbased on the information of the visualization 102, such as by “zoomingin” on only a portion of the anatomy or selectively rendering parts ofthe anatomy. Thus, while in some embodiments the information of the basevisualization 102 may include information on an entirety of an anatomyof a species, a selective visualization may be rendered that is only ofthe musculoskeletal anatomy specified by that information or any otherpart of the anatomy.

The information of the base visualization 102 may be used to render athree-dimensional visualization 102A of the anatomy for output. Thus,the base visualization 102 may include the information that may be usedby a 3D rendering engine to create three-dimensional graphics for theanatomy. In the embodiment of FIG. 1A, the information may be includedin a hierarchy of data objects 102B.

Each data object of the hierarchy 102B may relate to one or moreanatomical features available to be rendered in the visualization 102,which may include organs, tissues, cells, or other structures of ananatomy. The data objects may be organized in the hierarchy 102B in amanner corresponding to an arrangement of anatomical features within ananatomy, or an arrangement of anatomical features in standard anatomicalclassifications. For example, there may be an object related to themusculoskeletal system, which includes dependent objects that relate tothe musculature system and to the skeletal system. The object for theskeletal system may in turn include objects related to differentcomponents of the skeletal system, such as bones, joints, and cartilage,and the object for bones may include objects for particular bones (e.g.,a femur). Data objects may depend from multiple different objects insome cases. For example, a femur data object may depend from a skeletalsystem object and/or bone object, but may additionally depend from a“leg” object.

The hierarchy 102B may include connections between data objects at asame level, or connections that do not necessarily indicate adependency. For example, the hierarchy 102B may include connectionsbetween data objects that indicate a relationship between anatomicalstructures. This may be the case, for example, with an object for a boneand an object for a ligament that attaches to that bone.

In some cases, one or more objects of the hierarchy 102B may not relateto an entirety of an anatomical feature, but may instead correspond to aportion of an anatomical feature. For example, a data object maycorrespond to a region of an anatomical feature. The region of theanatomical feature may be, for example, a portion of a surface area ofthe anatomical feature or a part of a volume of the anatomical feature.The region of the anatomical feature may also correspond to a distinctanatomical structure within an anatomical feature, such as a chamber ofa heart or gastric glands of the stomach. A data object may alsocorrespond to a particular point on a surface area of or within ananatomical feature.

The hierarchy of data objects 102B may include information on a mannerin which to render anatomical features to which the objects correspond.For example, the data object(s) for an anatomical feature may includeinformation on a geometry of the anatomical feature. The information onthe geometry may include information on dimensions and shapes of theanatomical feature. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, forrendering of 3D computer graphics, information on geometry may be storedand used in a variety of ways. Embodiments are not limited to anyparticular manner of storing information on geometry. As one example,information on geometry may be stored in terms of values or equationsthat identify dimensions and/or shapes.

In some embodiments, the information on the manner in which to render ananatomical feature may additionally or alternatively include informationon an appearance to of the anatomical feature when rendered, or ondifferent appearances to use for different parts of the anatomicalfeature. For example, if an anatomical feature is to appear with a roughsurface or a smooth surface, or with some parts having a rough surfaceand others a smooth surface, or if one or more colors are to be used,this information may be stored in the data objects. Again, those skilledin the art will appreciate that, for rendering of 3D computer graphics,information on appearance of objects may be stored and used in a varietyof ways, and embodiments are not limited to any particular manner ofstoring information on appearance.

In some embodiments, the information on the manner in which to render ananatomical feature may additionally or alternatively include informationon a manner in which the anatomical feature is to be shown moving,either by itself or relative to other anatomical features. Thisinformation may be helpful if the anatomical feature is to be animatedwhen rendered. This may be the case when an animated visualization of anorganism moving (e.g., walking or running) is to be generated, or whenan animated visualization of an anatomical feature (e.g., lungs and/or aheart pumping) is to be generated.

The information on a manner in which to render the anatomical featuremay additionally or alternatively include information on a relationshipand/or connection to other anatomical features. For example, informationon an appearance of the connection between anatomical features, such asa location, size, or type of the connection, may be stored. As anotherexample, information on a manner in which movement of one anatomicalfeature impacts the other (e.g., how movement of a ligament impactsmovement of a bone) may be stored.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate from the foregoing descriptionthat there are a variety of ways that the information on the manner inwhich to render anatomical features may be stored in the data objects.For example, where only a single data object corresponds to ananatomical feature, that single data object may store all of theinformation on the manner in which to render the anatomical feature. Asanother example, where multiple data objects correspond to an anatomicalfeature, or to a collection of anatomical features such as an anatomicalsystem, the information on how to render the feature or collection maybe distributed across the multiple data objects. In a case where a dataobject corresponds to a portion of an anatomical feature, informationfrom multiple data objects may be used to determine a manner in which torender the anatomical feature.

An example was given above of a data object corresponding to one chamberof a heart. In such a case, a data object may correspond to each chamberof a heart, and information from the multiple data objects (for amulti-chambered heart) may be used to render the heart.

Another example was given above of a data object corresponding to aportion of a surface of an anatomical feature, or a point within ananatomical feature. In such a case, there may be other data objectscorresponding to other portions of the surface or other points, and theinformation on a manner in which to render the anatomical feature may becompiled from the multiple data objects.

In some embodiments, as discussed above, the visualization 102 maycorrespond to a particular state of anatomy, such as a “healthy” orconsensus “normal” anatomy for a species like a human. In someembodiments, there may be one or more additional visualizations 104 thatcorrespond to different states of the anatomy for that species. Thevisualizations 104 may be structured similarly to the foregoingdescription of the visualization 102, but one or more of the anatomicalfeatures that are rendered with a visualization 104 may vary from theanatomical features rendered with the visualization 102 because thevisualization 104 corresponds to a different state of the anatomy. Thedifferent state of the anatomy may correspond to an injury, procedure(e.g., surgery), disease, genetic mutation, condition, or other factorthat causes changes in anatomy, any of which may be generically referredto herein as a “medical condition.” For example, a visualization 104 maycorrespond to obesity, and the anatomical features may be rendered torepresent changes to the anatomy resulting from obesity. This mayinclude a larger heart, larger fat deposits, cholesterol deposits withinvasculature, inflammation in joints, and/or other anatomical variationsthat are associated with obesity.

The information for these variations may be stored in one or more dataobjects of the hierarchy of the visualization 104. For example,information identifying the geometry of a larger heart may be stored inone or more data objects corresponding to a heart, by identifyingdifferent values and/or different equations identifying a size or shapeof the heart than the values/equations of a corresponding data object invisualization 102. In some cases, there may be additional or fewer dataobjects than another visualization. For example, when a visualization102 corresponds to an obese state and vasculature is to be rendered withcholesterol disposed therein, there may be one or more additional dataobjects for such cholesterol, associated with each vein or artery to berendered with the cholesterol, as compared to a healthy/normal state ofanother visualization. Anatomical variations for a visualization 104 maybe rendered by rendering anatomical features differently than would berendered using the visualization 102, such as by using differentgeometries and/or different appearances in the rendering based on theinformation stored in data objects of the visualization 104.

Embodiments are not limited to visualizations 102, 104 being associatedwith a state that has a system-wide effect on multiple parts of ananatomy (e.g., normal state, obese state, etc.). As another example, avisualization 104 may correspond to a stroke, and may represent damageto a brain resulting from a stroke by showing the brain with a differentgeometry or different appearance. As another example, a visualization104 may correspond to a surgery, such as a common surgery like acholecystectomy, and the visualization 104 may render the anatomydifferent by rendering the anatomy without a gallbladder and with scartissue in the skin and musculature corresponding to incisions madeduring the surgery.

As should be appreciated from the foregoing, the visualization system100 may enable generation of an “adjusted” visualization that haschanges with respect to one of the visualizations 102, 104. Varioustypes of adjustments may be made to a visualization in accordance withtechniques described herein, some examples of which are described andillustrated below in connection with FIGS. 5A-5F.

For example, an adjustment may be made to reflect an annotation to beadded to a visualization. Such an annotation may identify informationrelated to an anatomical feature, such as by identifying the anatomicalfeature or identifying some additional information with respect to theanatomical feature. Such additional information may be medicalinformation, such as information from a medical dictionary or medicaljournal, and may be patient-specific information, such as by annotatingan anatomical feature with information indicating a complicationsuffered by a specific patient regarding that anatomical feature. Forexample, an adjustment may include rendering a visualization with anannotation linked to a heart indicating a patient has a heart murmur. Asanother example, an adjustment may include rendering a visualizationwith an annotation linked to skin indicating that there is a growth at aparticular location of the skin.

As another example, an adjustment may be made to change a manner inwhich an anatomical feature is to be rendered, such as by altering ageometry and/or appearance of an anatomical feature. Similarly to thevisualizations 104 discussed above, such a change to a manner in whichan anatomical feature is to be rendered may reflect a medical condition,such as an injury, procedure, disease, genetic mutation, condition, orother factor that causes changes in anatomy. For example, an adjustmentmay be made to render a heart with a heart murmur, such as by changing ageometry of the heart, an appearance of the heart, and/or a movement ofthe heart.in the visualization.

As another example, an adjustment may be made that changes a manner ofdisplay of some or all of the visualization. Changing the manner ofdisplay may include “zooming in” on a particular part of thevisualization, and/or may include omitting some anatomical features fromthe visualization. Changing the manner of display may further includechanging an appearance of one or more anatomical features, such asincreasing the transparency with which they are rendered or changing acolor with which the anatomical features are rendered.

As with the visualizations 104, the variations may be rendered byrendering anatomical features differently than would be rendered usingthe visualization 102, such as by using different geometries and/ordifferent appearances in the rendering, and/or by rendering additionalor fewer objects (e.g., annotations) or anatomical features in theadjusted visualization. An adjustment may be made by identifying changesto be made to data objects of a visualization, such as by identifyingchanges to be made to one or more particular data objects of a hierarchy102B of visualization 102.

For example, information on an adjustment may identify a particular dataobject related to an anatomical feature and a change to be made to avalue or equation stored by that data object that will change a geometrywith which the anatomical feature is rendered. The change to be made tothe value or equation may include a substitute value or equation, afactor to adjusted the value or equation of the data object (e.g., ascaling factor, a constant factor to be added, etc.) that may be a valueor equation, or any other mathematical expression that may adjust avalue or equation.

As another example, information on an adjustment may identify that aparticular data object of a “normal” visualization 102 is to be replacedwith another particular data object from one of the alternatevisualizations 104. In some cases, the two data objects (fromvisualization 102 and from visualization 104) may be corresponding dataobjects between the two visualization, such as by being located at thesame position in the hierarchies of data objects. In such a case, theinformation identifying the adjustment may identify a data object (e.g.,by identifying a and an alternate visualization 104, and identify thatIn other cases, the data object from visualization 104, that replacesthe data object from visualization 102, may be any suitable data objectin the visualization 104 at any suitable location in the hierarchy. Assuch, the data object from a visualization 104 may be within the sameanatomical system or relate to the same anatomical feature as the dataobject being replaced as part of the adjustment.

While in the examples of the preceding two paragraphs, reference wasmade to a change made to a singular “data object,” it should beappreciated that adjustments may be specified for multiple objects,including by referencing multiple objects as a group. For example, wherean anatomical feature is related to a hierarchical grouping of dataobjects, such as a grouping of data objects for a heart or other organ,a change may be specified as relating to the data objects of that group.As a specific example, an adjustment may specify that a collection ofdata objects for a heart from an alternative visualization 104 besubstituted for a collection of data objects for a normal visualization102. As another specific example, a value or equation may be specifiedfor a change made to a collection of data objects, and adjustments maybe made to multiple data objects based on that value/equation.

In some embodiments, the visualization system 100 may include a datastore 106 of predefined adjustments. The data store 106 may include aset of adjustments, wherein the information for each adjustment mayinclude an identifier for the adjustment and other information definingor explaining the adjustment (e.g., the name of a surgery or medicalcondition visualized by the adjustment), information identifying one ormore anatomical features impacted by the adjustment and/or identifyingone or more data objects (in turn related to one or more anatomicalfeatures) that are impacted by the adjustment, and informationidentifying changes to be made to a base visualization to effect theadjustment. The information identifying the change to be made mayinclude the information, discussed above, identifying a change to amanner in which to render an anatomical feature. This may includeinformation identifying a change to a geometry, appearance, movement, orother characteristics of a manner in which to render an anatomicalfeature in the visualization, which may include a mathematicalexpression (e.g., an equation or value) indicating the change.

The visualization system may produce an adjusted visualization throughediting a “base” visualization 102, 104 based on one or moreadjustments, including one or more of the predefined adjustments 106.The adjusted visualization 108 that is output may include, in someembodiments, graphics data that, when provided to a graphics system of acomputing device (e.g., a driver for a graphics card) can be output fordisplay. The adjusted visualization 108 may additionally oralternatively, in some embodiments, include instructions for generatingsuch graphics data, with the instructions set out using any suitablegraphics instruction set, including according to a graphics library API(e.g., OpenGL, WebGL, etc.). The adjusted visualization 108 mayadditionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, include a hierarchyof data objects, similar to the hierarchy 102B described in detailabove, that include information on how to render one or more anatomicalfeatures.

Adjustments may be made to a visualization 102, 104 based on informationreceived via an interface to the visualization system 100. In theexample of FIG. 1A, the visualization system 100 includes twointerfaces: a programmatic interface 110 and a user interface 116. Theprogrammatic interface 110 may include an Application ProgrammingInterface (API) to the visualization system 102, which may include aninterface for exchanging information via one or more networks, followingprotocols such as web services protocols.

Programmatic interface 110 may be used, in some embodiments, to receiveand process patient data from a data store 112 of patient data, toenable a visualization to be produced based on the patient data 112. Thevisualization to be produced based on the patient data may represent astate of a patient, or be used to display or explain a medical conditionof the patient by annotating a visualization. When the patient data isprovided to the visualization system 100 via the interface 110, thepatient data may be interpreted via an interpreter 114 to determine anadjustment requested, one or more anatomical features to which theadjustment relates, and a manner in which to render the adjustment. Thismay include, for example, mapping an identifier for an injury, disease,condition, etc. that is set out in one medical ontology to an ontologythat is used by the visualization system 100. For example, if theinterface 110 receives patient data 112 requesting that an effect of a“heart attack” be rendered in the adjusted visualization 114, theinterpreter 114 may determine that the adjustment relates to a“myocardial infarction.” The interpreter 114 may then map thespecification of the adjustment to be made to a “myocardial infarction”adjustment stored in the predefined adjustments 106 and/or to one ormore data objects related to a heart. As another example, if theinterface 110 receives patient data 112 identifying that a conditionassociated with a medical code, such as ICD-10 code “S72”, is to berendered in the adjusted visualization 114, the interpreter 114 maydetermine based on information regarding ICD-10 codes (or other medicalcodes) that the adjustment relates to a fracture of a femur. Theinterpreter 114 may therefore map the specification of the adjustment tobe made to a “fractured femur” adjustment stored in the predefinedadjustment 106 and/or to one or more data objects related to a femur.

The programmatic interface 110 may receive a specification as ofadjustment at least partially in the form of an identification of amedical condition, injury, etc. as in the foregoing examples. Or, insome embodiments, the programmatic interface 110 may receive input ofprecise modification to be made to a visualization. For example, inputmay be received via the programmatic interface 110 that identifies ageometric modification, or a modification to an appearance, or othermodification to be made to a manner of rendering an anatomical featurein a visualization 102 so as to produce an adjusted visualization 108.

The interface 116 may be additionally or alternatively be used inconnection with receiving specifications of adjustments to be made to avisualization 102. For example, a GUI 118 may be used to output avisualization and to receive input with respect to adjustments to bemade to the displayed visualization. For example, a user may select oneor more anatomical features or one or more parts of an anatomicalfeature in the user interface and specify via the GUI 118 an adjustmentto be made, such as by inputting via the GUI 118 (e.g., via selectionfrom a list or other input) a disease or condition of that anatomicalfeature, annotating that anatomical feature, or otherwise adjusting amanner in which a visualization of the anatomical feature is rendered.When the user provides input indicating a selection of one or moreanatomical features or the one or more parts of an anatomical feature,the visualization system, via the interpreter 114, may determine whichfeatures or parts are selected. For example, if user selects a locationcorresponding to a femur, the system may deter uine whether the user isindicating the leg, the upper leg, the femur, a portion of the femur, apoint on the femur, or another object. The exact coordinate in the GUI118 specified by the user input may be analyzed, alone or in connectionwith other user input (e.g., additional input by which the userdisambiguates the initial selection), to determine an intended selectionof the user. The intended selection may be one or more anatomicalfeatures or one or more portions of an anatomical feature. Thevisualization system, with the interpreter 114, may then determine theanatomical features and/or data objects to which the adjustment relates.

Accordingly, the visualization system 100, including through interpreter114, may map a specification of an anatomical feature to which anadjustment relates to a data object related to that specification.Examples of techniques for such mapping are described in detail below.

The visualization system 100 is not limited to being implemented with aspecific computing device or collection of computing devices, or limitedto functionality being divided between any particular computing devices.For example, in some embodiments, all data and all adjustment andrendering may be performed on a server, and data for an adjustedvisualization 108 may be transmitted to a client device for display. Inother embodiments, all functionality of the system 100 may beimplemented in one computing device.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of a computer system 120 with which someembodiments may operate. The system 120 includes a computing device 122that may be implemented as a set of one, two, or more servers executinga server-side visualization facility. The computing device 122 mayinclude a data store that stores data for visualizations 102, 104 andpredefined adjustments 106, discussed above in connection with FIG. 1A.The system 120 may additionally include computing devices 124 (includingdevice 124A and 124B, referred to individually and collectively hereinas device(s) 124) that execute a client-side visualization facility. Thedevices 124 are illustrated in FIG. 1B as a mobile phone and as adesktop personal computer, but embodiments are not limited to operatingwith any particular form of computing device. The devices 122, 124 maycommunicate via a network 126, which may be any suitable one or morewired and/or wireless networks, including the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the device 124 may include a data store that storespatient data 112 and adjusted visualizations 108. In the example of FIG.1B, the client-side visualization facility may include functionality forreceiving input of specifications of adjustments to be made (e.g., viainterfaces 110, 116 of FIG. 1A), mapping the specifications ofadjustments to anatomical features and/or data objects, and producingadjusted visualizations. The client-side visualization facility mayadditionally store adjusted visualizations locally, in a data store ofthe device 124 or a data store accessible to the device 124. Theinventors have recognized that implementing such functionality forprocessing, generating, and storing adjustments on a client device maybe advantageous in some embodiments. For example, where adjustmentsrelate to sensitive patient data, by implementing such functionality ona client device, the sensitive patient data is not transmitted to thedevice 122. The operator of the device 122, the operator of device 124,and the patient may therefore not be concerned regarding privacy of suchpatient data.

An example of a division of functionality between a server-side and aclient-side visualization facility was given in connection with FIG. 1B.Those skilled in the art will appreciate from the discussion herein thatembodiments are not limited to dividing functionality in any particularmanner between devices. Below, for ease of description, reference may bemade to a “visualization facility” executed by one or more computingdevices. Such a facility may be executed by one device or functionalitymay be divided between facilities executing on multiple devices.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a workflow that may be performed by avisualization facility in accordance with embodiments described herein.The workflow of FIG. 2 includes five steps. Examples of ways in whichthese steps may be implemented are discussed in detail below,particularly in connection with FIGS. 6-8D.

At Step 1, as should be appreciated from the foregoing discussion ofvisualizations 102, 104, a visualization facility starts with a“default” human state that does not reflect an adjustment to be made.That default human state may be a “normal” or “healthy” state or may beanother state such as a state associated with a condition or injury(e.g., obesity), as discussed above in connection with visualizations102, 104. It is this default state of Step 1 that is to be edited withthe specified adjustment.

At Step 2, a visualization facility receives a specification of anadjustment to be made, which includes a specification of a location atwhich the adjustment is to be made or displayed. The location may bespecified in Step 2 in any of a variety of coordinate systems,ontologies, or other manners of specifying a location within avisualization of an anatomy. For example, the location may be specifiedas a two-dimensional or three-dimensional coordinate within a coordinatesystem of a displayed visualization, such as in the case that theadjustment is specified via a GUI. As another example, the location maybe specified using a medical code, such as an ICD-10 code. As a furtherexample, the location may be specified using an identifier for adisease, injury, procedure, or other medical terminology that isindicative of one or more affected anatomical features.

FIG. 3 illustrates various ways in which locations for adjustments maybe specified, with increasing specificity. As should be appreciated fromthe foregoing, locations for adjustments may be specified as a group 300of anatomical features (in the example of FIG. 3, the bones of a humanright leg), an anatomical feature 302 (e.g., a human tibia), a portion304 of an anatomical feature (e.g., a part of a surface of a humantibia), and a particular point 306 within an anatomical feature (e.g., apoint on a surface of a human tibia).

In Step 3, the visualization facility maps that location specified forthe adjustment in Step 2 to one or more anatomical features and/or oneor more data objects related to those anatomical features. A discussionof mapping techniques that may be used in embodiments is provided below.

Following the mapping of the adjustment to data objects, in Step 4 avisualization function is executed. Through the visualization function,data for an adjusted visualization may be created. As discussed above,the adjusted visualization 108 that is output may include, in someembodiments, graphics data that, when provided to a graphics system of acomputing device (e.g., a driver for a graphics card) can be output fordisplay. The adjusted visualization 108 may additionally oralternatively, in some embodiments, include instructions for generatingsuch graphics data, with the instructions set out using any suitablegraphics instruction set, including according to a graphics library API(e.g., OpenGL, WebGL, etc.). The adjusted visualization 108 mayadditionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, include a hierarchyof data objects, similar to the hierarchy 102B described in detailabove, that include information on how to render one or more anatomicalfeatures. The visualization function that is executed in Step 4 may beany suitable function to produce such visualization data, as embodimentsare not limited in this respect.

In Step 5, the adjusted visualization presenting the human state withthe adjustment mapped thereto is output. The output may be to a display,such as a display of a computing device. Additionally or alternatively,the output may be to a storage, such as a memory, and/or to a networkfor transmission to a recipient device where the visualization may beoutput to a display and/or to a storage.

As should be appreciated from the foregoing, the visualization facilitymay receive as input data of multiple different types for the creationof adjustments. This data, when received, may be processed by thevisualization facility, such as through a workflow like the oneillustrated in FIG. 2. Depending on a type of data that is received asinput, different types of processing may be performed to produce anadjusted visualization.

FIG. 4 illustrates different types 404 of data that may be received in aspecification of an adjustment to be made, and which may be processed aspart of generating an adjusted visualization. The data types 404illustrated in FIG. 4 include geometric inputs 404A, alphanumeric inputs404B, video inputs 404C, and image inputs 404D. Each of these may beanalyzed to generate an adjusted visualization 406 of anatomy.

Each of the data types 404 may be processed in a different manner todetermine an adjustment specified by the data types, and a location atwhich the adjustment is to be made, including one or more anatomicalfeatures impacted by the adjustment.

For example, geometric inputs 404A may be (as shown through inputsources 402A) computer-generated visualizations, including graphics ormodels for graphics. Such computer-generated visualizations may includeComputer Assisted Design (CAD) models, a BioDigital 3D model of anatomy,or other custom 3D model. Such a visualization may visualize one or moreanatomical features and indicate a manner in which one or moreanatomical features are to be rendered in the visualization 406. Forexample, a geometric input 404A may be of an enlarged heart, therebyindicating that the visualization 406 is to be rendered with an enlargedheart. Processing the input 404A may include analyzing the content of avisualization and/or metadata for a visualization, to determine ananatomical feature to which the visualization corresponds. Theprocessing may also include determining a type of adjustment requestedthrough the visualization 404A, such as by analyzing the visualization404A. For example, the analysis of the visualization may includecomparing a geometry of the received visualization 404A to a basevisualization, to determine variations. As another example, the analysismay include extracting from the visualization 404 information on amanner of rendering an anatomical feature and substituting the extractedinformation for corresponding information in a base visualization. Inthis manner, geometric information (e.g., values or equations defininggeometry) may be extracted from a received visualization 404 and used toadjust a base visualization to create the visualization 406.

Alphanumeric inputs 404B may be content that includes words and/ornumbers that may be structured and/or unstructured data. Suchalphanumeric content 404B may include patient data such as doctors'dictations/notes, lab results, diagnoses, symptoms, or other informationthat may be included in an electronic health record, as shown in inputsources 402B. In some cases, such patient data may not be exclusivelyalphanumeric data, but may additionally include imaging data describedby the alphanumeric data. The alphanumeric data may also, in someembodiments, include tracking information derived from sensors worn byand/or implanted into a patient. Such alphanumeric content 404B mayrelate to one or more anatomical features, such as by indicating aninjury, procedure (e.g., surgery), disease, genetic mutation, condition,or other factor that causes changes in anatomy. The alphanumeric input404B may be processed to determine an anatomical feature to which arequested adjustment relates and a manner in which the adjustment is tobe made. For example, alphanumeric input 404B may be analyzed toidentify an injury, procedure, disease, etc. discussed in words ornumbers, such as referred to explicitly in text using one or moremedical terms or common-parlance synonyms for medical terms (e.g.,“myocardial infarction” or “heart attack”, or the ICD-10 code “S72”), orthat are implied through numeric values or lab results included withinthe alphanumeric input 404B. The visualization facility may perform suchan analysis using known semantic interpretation techniques and/or knownpattern-matching or keyword-identification techniques. When such aninjury, procedure, disease, etc. is identified by the visualizationfacility, it may be used to identify an anatomical feature impacted. Forexample, if the term “heart attack” appears, the visualization facilitymay determine that a heart attack is to be visualized.

The visualization facility may also determine a requested adjustment.For example, the alphanumeric input 404B may be text that is to be usedto annotate a visualization, such as by labeling one or more anatomicalfeatures or otherwise associating text and/or an image with theanatomical feature(s). In such a case, once the anatomical feature towhich the alphanumeric input 404B relates is identified by thevisualization facility, the visualization facility may adjust thevisualization 406 to include some or all of the alphanumeric input(and/or a related image) in the visualization 406. In a case that ageometric adjustment is requested, the visualization facility mayattempt to determine a manner in which to make the geometric adjustment.In embodiments in which a visualization system includes predefinedadjustments that define a manner in which an anatomical feature is to berendered with a particular injury, procedure, disease, etc., thevisualization facility may determine whether the predefined adjustmentsinclude information corresponding to the identified adjustment. If not,the visualization facility may additionally evaluate the alphanumericinput to determine whether geometry of an anatomical feature isspecified.

Video input 404C may be audiovisual content relating to an injury,procedure (e.g., surgery), disease, genetic mutation, condition, orother factor that causes changes in anatomy. The visualization facilitymay analyze the video input 404C, including by analyzing the visualcontent and/or audio content to determine an anatomical feature to whichthe video input 404C relates. For example, by analyzing the videocontent in connection with information on known shapes or appearances ofinjuries, procedures, anatomical features, etc., the visualizationfacility may identify one or more anatomical features to which the videorelates, and the video data may be analyzed to determine an adjustmentrequested by the video. As another example, audio for the video mayinclude narrative speech that identifies anatomical features, orinjuries, procedures, etc. to which a video relates, and the audio datamay be analyzed with, for example, a speech recognizer to determine anadjustment requested by the video. Metadata may also be analyzed forinformation identifying an anatomical feature. The visualizationfacility may also determine a requested adjustment. For example, thevideo input 404C may be video that is to be used to annotate avisualization, such as by labeling one or more anatomical features withthe video or otherwise associating the video with the anatomicalfeature(s). In such a case, once the anatomical feature to which thevideo input 404C relates is identified by the visualization facility,the visualization facility may adjust the visualization 406 to includesome or all of the video input 404C in the visualization 406.

Similar to the analysis of a video 404C, in some embodiments an image404D (which may be an illustration, DICOM medical image, photo, or otherimage 402C) may be received as input and analyzed to determine ananatomical feature to which it relates and/or an adjustment requested.The anatomical feature may be determined from content of the image 404Dand/or metadata associated with the image 404D. The image input 404D maybe an image that is to be used to annotate a visualization, such as bylabeling one or more anatomical features with the image or otherwiseassociating the image with the anatomical feature(s). In such a case,once the anatomical feature to which the image input 404D relates isidentified by the visualization facility, the visualization facility mayadjust the visualization 406 to include some or all of the image input404D in the visualization 406.

Various types of adjustments may be made to visualizations throughtechniques described herein, as should be appreciated from theforegoing. FIGS. 5A-5F illustrate examples of types of adjustments thatmay be made. FIG. 5A, for example, illustrates a first type ofadjustment, in which some anatomical components are made transparentwhile other anatomical components are colored, to highlight thoseanatomical components in the display. By increasing the transparency ofsome anatomical components, the remaining components may be displayed incontext of surrounding anatomy while still being highlighted. FIG. 5Aillustrates a second form of adjustment, with labels annotatinganatomical features within the visualization. The adjustment for addinglabels may include identifying locations at which annotations should beadded, including anatomical features that are to be labeled by theannotations.

FIG. 5B illustrates a similar adjusted visualization, with additionaltext annotating the visualization. Here, the annotated text is relatedto lungs and defines a medical condition relating to lungs. When suchtext is received by the visualization system, as described above, ananalysis of the text may determine that it relates to lungs and that thetext should therefore be associated with the lungs in an adjustedvisualization.

FIGS. 5C and 5D illustrate other manners in which to change anappearance of anatomical features in visualizations. In FIG. 5C, a colorof respiratory features has been altered, while in FIG. 5D, atransparency of these anatomical features has been increased.

FIG. 5E illustrates a change in a rendering of an anatomical feature toshow a medical condition, namely a blockage of vasculature. Theleft-hand view of FIG. 5E is a visualization of a “normal” blood vessel,while the right-hand view shows an adjusted visualization. The adjustedvisualization includes additional material, which is the cause of theblockage of the vessel. That additional material may be, for example,cholesterol. Such an adjusted visualization may be produced in responseto a request to render a visualization of vasculature for an “obese”patient, a request to render a visualization of vasculature having ablockage, a request to render a visualization with cholesterol depositsat a particular location, or other requested adjustment.

FIG. 5F illustrates another adjusted visualization that may be generatedin some embodiments. The example of FIG. 5F illustrates one frame froman animated visualization, showing movements of a musculoskeletal systemof a running human. During animation, multiple frames may be presentedin sequence (e.g., as a video) to show how the anatomy moves. Such avisualization may be produced using stored information about movement ofanatomy, or may be produced using motion capture data. For example, apatient may be monitored using movement detectors, such as a cameraobserving movement and/or sensors attached to the patient's body.Movements of the patient may be detected and, using known informationabout correspondences between particular larger movements (e.g.,movements of a limb) and movements of anatomical features (e.g.,particular muscles, tendons, bones, etc. within that limb), an animatedreal-time visualization of movements of the patient may be produced.

Note that in the visualization of FIG. 5F not all muscles are rendered,but rather an adjusted visualization is produced that includes theskeletal system and muscles of the lower torso and legs. This selectivevisualization of anatomy may be requested as an adjustment to eitherexclude certain anatomical features or include certain anatomicalfeatures.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a process that may be performed by avisualization facility in some embodiments to produce an adjustedvisualization based on an identification of an adjustment to be made. Insome cases, prior to the start of the process 600, a base visualizationmay be presented, such as in a case that the adjustment is to bereceived via a graphical user interface. The base visualization that isused in the process 600 may be a visualization of “normal” or “healthy”anatomy, such as the visualization 102 described above in connectionwith FIG. 1A. Alternatively, the base visualization may have been editedin one or more ways as compared to the “normal” visualization, such ashaving been edited one or more times through a process like the process600 to make one or more adjustments or by being a visualization definedfor a different state of anatomy, such as a visualization for “obesity”or other condition, disease, injury, etc.

In block 602, the visualization facility receives a specification of anadjustment to be made to the base visualization to produce an adjustedvisualization. The specification may be received in any suitable manner,including via a programmatic interface or a graphical interface. Thespecification may include an identification of an anatomical feature towhich the adjustment relates as well as an identification of anadjustment to be made. The identification of the anatomical feature andthe identification of the adjustment may be separate in some cases. Forexample, a user may select one or more anatomical features, or one ormore parts of an anatomical feature, via a GUT and may additionallyinput information regarding an adjustment to be made. In anotherexample, the visualization facility may receive via a programmatic inputan identification of an anatomical feature and detailed information onan adjustment, such as geometric modifications to be made to avisualization of the identified anatomical feature. As another example,the visualization facility may receive via a GUI or programmaticinterface an identification of an injury, medical condition, etc. thatmay indicate both an anatomical feature and an adjustment to be made tothe visualization of that anatomical feature. The ICD-10 code “S72” and“heart attack” examples above are examples where the input may identifyboth the anatomical feature and the adjustment to be made.

In block 604, the visualization facility maps the anatomical featurespecified in the adjustment to one or more data objects of the hierarchyof the base visualization to be adjusted. The visualization facility maymap the adjustment based on a manner in which the adjustment isspecified in block 602. For example, where the specification received inblock 602 explicitly identifies an anatomical feature, the visualizationfacility in block 604 may determine the data objects of the hierarchythat define that anatomical feature in the base visualization, thatdefine a region of the base visualization to which the adjustmentrelates, and/or that store the data (e.g., geometry information, orother information) regarding the anatomical feature that is to beedited. For example, if the adjustment relates to annotating a heart,the mapping in block 604 may determine one or more data objects thatrelate to a heart. As another example, if the adjustment relates tovisualizing a heart murmur in one valve of a heart, the visualizationfacility in block 604 may determine, from among one or more data objectsdefining a heart, which data objects define geometric information forthat valve of the heart.

As discussed in detail below, the mapping of block 604 may be performedin a variety of ways dependent on the nature of the specificationreceived in block 602. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the mapping ofblock 604 may include determining a manner in which the specification isprovided. For example, the specification may be analyzed to determinewhether it was provided via a programmatic interface or via a graphicalinterface. The input specification may also be analyzed to determinewhether it is one of the input types identified in connection with FIG.4. When the manner in which the input is received and the format of theinput are determined, the visualization facility may select a manner inwhich to process the specification to determine the anatomical featureto which it relates and then determine the data objects. For example,the visualization facility may determine whether a text analysis (e.g.,keyword mapping) or audio analysis (e.g., speech recognition) is to beperformed, as discussed above.

In block 606, once the data objects are identified through the mappingof block 604, the visualization facility adjusts the base visualizationbased on the specification of the adjustment to be made. As should beappreciated from the foregoing, including the discussion of FIGS. 5A-5F,various types of adjustments may be made. These may include annotatinganatomical features, omitting or including anatomical features from avisualization, changing a manner in which an anatomical feature isrendered, or other adjustments. Based on the adjustment requested in thespecification received in block 602, one or more changes are made inblock 606. For example, in block 606, the base visualization may beadjusted to add a text annotation (either a label or longer narrativetext) that is related to an anatomical feature included in thevisualization, as in FIGS. 5A and 5B. As another example, in block 606,the base visualization may be adjusted to modify a geometry of one ormore anatomical components defined by one or more data objects, and insuch a case information on a geometry that is stored in one or more dataobjects may be edited to contain a new value and/or new equation, orother new information defining the new geometry.

To make the modifications, new copies of the data objects of a hierarchyfor a base visualization (e.g., a new copy of hierarchy 102B ofvisualization 102 of FIG. 1A) may be produced in some embodiments. Inother embodiments, as information is read from data objects and thenused in rendering a visualization based on the data objects, theinformation contained within the data objects may be edited beforerendering, such that the edited information is used in the rendering.

The adjusted visualization that is produced in block 606 may be in anysuitable format, as embodiments are not limited in this respect. Forexample, the adjusted visualization may include, in some embodiments,graphics data that, when provided to a graphics system of a computingdevice (e.g., a driver for a graphics card) can be output for display.The adjusted visualization may additionally or alternatively, in someembodiments, include instructions for generating such graphics data,with the instructions set out using any suitable graphics instructionset, including according to a graphics library API (e.g., OpenGL, WebGL,etc.). The adjusted visualization may additionally or alternatively, insome embodiments, include a hierarchy of data objects, similar to thehierarchy 102B described in detail above in connection with FIG. 1A,that include information on how to render one or more anatomicalfeatures.

In block 608, once the visualization facility produces the adjustedvisualization in block 606, the adjusted visualization may be output fordisplay. In a case that the visualization facility executes on a samecomputing device as the adjusted visualization is to be displayed, thefacility may output the adjusted visualization to one or more componentsof the computing device (e.g., rendering engine, graphics processingunit, graphics driver, graphics card, etc.) to display the adjustedvisualization on a screen. In other embodiments, the visualizationfacility may execute on a different computing device and the facilitymay output the adjusted visualization to a storage (e.g., memory) or anetwork adapter for transmission over one or more networks.

Once the adjusted visualization is output in block 608, the process 600ends. Following the process 600, an adjusted visualization is availablefor presentation to a user to enable the user to better view andunderstand anatomy with the requested adjustment.

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate examples of processes that may be performedby a visualization facility for generation of specifications foradjustments based on received information. The process 700, 720 of FIGS.7A-7B may be performed, for example, by an interpreter such as theinterpreter 114 discussed above in connection with FIG. 1A. Theprocesses may be used to translate received information that isindicative of a requested adjustment into an adjustment that may be madeto a visualization to produce an adjusted visualization.

The process 700 of FIG. 7A begins in block 702, in which a visualizationfacility receives, such as via a programmatic interface, electronichealth data. The electronic health data may be for a patient and may beformatted in any suitable manner, including according to known datastructures and formats for an Electronic Health Record (EHR). In block704, the visualization facility reviews the electronic health data toidentify adjustments to be made and anatomical features to which theadjustments relate. This may include parsing the electronic health datato identify each injury, procedure (e.g., surgery), disease, geneticmutation, condition, or other piece of medical information includedwithin the electronic health data that may affect anatomy and that maybe visualized.

It should be appreciated from the foregoing that electronic health datamay include information formatted and stored in a variety of differentways. The electronic health data may include, for example, structuredand/or unstructured text, images, audio (e.g., doctor's dictations),video, and/or other data. Moreover, as should be appreciated from theforegoing discussion of at least FIG. 4, within each form of data thereview may be different. For example, for structured and/or unstructuredtext, the review may determine whether health information is set outusing explicit medical terminology (e.g., “myocardial infarction”),common parlance for medical conditions (e.g., “heart attack”), ormedical codes (e.g., ICD-10 code S72 for a fractured femur). The reviewof the electronic health data in block 704 may therefore be dependent ona form of the electronic health data, and may include making adetermination of the form of the electronic health data so as todetermine a manner in which to review the electronic health data.

Accordingly, in block 704A the visualization facility determines a formof each unit of electronic health data and, for each unit of electronichealth data, selects a manner of interpretation for that unit.

The review of block 704, using the manner of interpretation selected inblock 704A, may allow for identification of medical conditions, etc.that relate to anatomical features and that are to be visualized.Accordingly, based on the review of block 704, the visualizationfacility creates in block 706 a specification for each adjustment to bemade. The specification created in block 706 may include anidentification of an anatomical feature to which an adjustment relatesand a specification of the requested adjustment.

The specification of the requested adjustment may vary, dependent on anamount of detail set out in the electronic health data. For example, ifthe visualization facility determines that the electronic health datamerely identifies “fractured femur” using ICD-10 code 572 withoutidentifying a location of the fracture within the femur or moreinformation regarding the fracture, the visualization facility may use adefault manner of identifying an adjustment for a fracture, such as byspecifying that the bone is to be rendered with a fracture located in amiddle of the bone or by requesting an annotation of the bone thatidentifies a fracture without rendering the fracture. In contrast, ifthe visualization facility determines through the review that theelectronic health data indicates that a skin growth of a particular type(e.g., “mole”) is located “5 cm” above the patient's right knee, thevisualization facility may produce a specification for an adjustmentindicating that a mole is to be rendered on the visualized skin at alocation corresponding to 5 cm above the right knee.

Once a specification is created for each adjustment to be made, theprocess 700 ends.

FIG. 7B illustrates a flowchart for a process 720 that may beimplemented by a visualization facility to create a specification of anadjustment to be made based on an input received via a graphical userinterface. As with the process 700 of FIG. 7A, the process 720 of FIG.7B may be implemented by an element such as the interpreter 114 of FIG.1A.

The process 720 begins in block 722, in which a visualization of anatomyis displayed. The visualization that is output in block 722 may be a“normal” or “healthy” visualization, such as the visualization 102described above in connection with FIG. 1A. Alternatively, thevisualization may have been edited in one or more ways as compared tothe “normal” visualization, such as having been edited one or more timesthrough a process like the process 600 to make one or more adjustmentsor by being a visualization defined for a different state of anatomy,such as a visualization for “obesity” or other condition, disease,injury, etc. This visualization that is displayed in block 722 may be a“base” visualization that is to be adjusted with one or moreadjustments.

In block 724, the visualization facility receives via a graphical userinterface an input of an adjustment to be made, including a coordinateselected in the GUI. The coordinate selected in the GUI may be a precisetwo- or three-dimensional coordinate within the GUI. The input of theadjustment to be made may identify an injury, procedure (e.g., surgery),disease, genetic mutation, condition, or other factor that causeschanges in anatomy and may identify a manner in which the adjustment isto be made, such as through an annotation, a geometric modification,etc. The input on the adjustment to be made may be provided through theGUI in any suitable manner, including by selecting options from a menuor otherwise providing input using suitable user interface techniques.

By selecting the coordinate in block 724, a user may be indicating oneor more anatomical features or portions of anatomical features, such asany of the specifications discussed above in connection with FIG. 3.Accordingly, in block 726, the visualization facility interprets theselected coordinate in context of the output visualization and/or otherinformation provided by the user via the GUI to determine the anatomicalfeature to which the adjustment is to correspond. This may include, forexample, determining an anatomical feature that was displayed in thevisualization in the GUI at the coordinate, such that the selectedcoordinate is within the anatomical feature. This may additionallyinclude, for example, determining whether the user provided anotherinput indicating that the selection is of a portion of an anatomy. Forexample, the user may provide input via a GUI (e.g., by pushing abutton, holding a key on a keyboard, or providing another input) thatthe selection is of only a portion of an anatomical feature, or of aparticular point within the anatomical feature. Similarly, the user mayprovide an input via the GUI that the user is indicating a collection ofanatomical features, such as an entirety of a limb or a collection ofbones. As another example, in some embodiments the GUI may allow a userto hover a pointer over different portions of a display of an anatomicalfeature and, at specific locations, select the entirety of theanatomical feature or different regions of an anatomical feature, or atother locations select points within the anatomical feature. In such anembodiment, by determining the location at which the pointer washovering when the selection was made, a determination of whichanatomical feature, region of an anatomical feature, or point wasselected by the user.

In block 728, based on the specified adjustment provided in block 724and the anatomical feature determined in block 724, the visualizationfacility creates a specification of an adjustment to be made. Once thespecification is made, the process 720 ends.

Various examples were described above of ways in which adjustedvisualizations may be produced, for different types of adjustments.FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate flowcharts for creating adjusted visualizationsfor specific examples of adjustments. It should be appreciated, however,that the examples of FIGS. 8A-8D are merely illustrative and that otherprocesses or other adjustments may be used.

The process 800 of FIG. 8A may be used to generate an adjustedvisualization that includes an annotation for a particular anatomicalfeature, such as the labels or narrative text shown in the examples ofFIGS. 5A and 5B. The process 800 begins in block 802, in which thevisualization facility receives input of an adjustment that specifiesone or more anatomical features and that specifies an annotation to beapplied to the feature(s). The annotation may include any suitablecontent, including text, images, video, audio, and/or other content. Theadjustment may have already been mapped to one or more data objects of abase visualization to be annotated, such as using mapping techniquesdescribed above.

In block 804, the visualization facility generates computer graphicsincluding the visualization of the anatomy as well as the annotation.The visualization facility may generate the graphics in any suitablemanner, including by rendering graphics data based on instructions forrendering, such as instructions set out in a graphics library API (e.g.,OpenGL, WebGL, or others). The visualization facility may generate thegraphics for the visualization of the anatomy based on data available indata objects for a base visualization, such as by rendering based oninstructions set out in the data objects and/or by generatinginstructions from other information stored in the data objectsindicative of a manner in which to represent anatomical features andthen rendering those instructions. Based on the specification of theannotation in the adjustment, the visualization facility may generateappropriate graphics instructions for generating graphics data such thatthe annotation is displayed in the visualization alongside graphics datafor the anatomical features. For example, the visualization facility maygenerate instructions that, when processed by a graphics engine, creategraphics data that display the text or images of the annotation. Thevisualization facility may additionally or alternatively generateinstructions that create graphics data enabling playback of video and/oraudio. The visualization facility may generate the instructions suchthat, when processed to generate graphics data, the instructions alsoindicate a link to one or more anatomical features of the visualization.For example, when the visualization facility generates instructions todisplay text for a label, the visualization facility may also generateinstructions for a line or other indicator to be produced identifying alink between the text of the label and the anatomical feature that isbeing labeled. Once such graphics instructions are generated by thevisualization facility, the instructions may be processed by a graphicsengine alongside other graphics instructions for one or more anatomicalfeatures to generate a graphical visualization of both the anatomicalfeatures and the annotation.

Once the graphics are generated in block 804, the visualization facilityoutputs the graphics in block 806. The output may be to a display, to amemory, or to a network, as should be appreciated from the foregoingdiscussion of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8B illustrates another example of an adjustment, which relates to aspecific geometric modification that may be made to a base visualizationof an anatomical feature. Such a geometric modification may be made todisplay an anatomical feature with a different dimensions and/or shape,such as to visualize a heart of an athlete (as compared to anon-athlete), to visualize a bronchial tubes of a person with asthma, orother anatomical feature.

The process 820 begins in block 822, in which a visualization facilityreceives an adjustment specifying one or more anatomical features thatare to be modified and indicating a geometric modification to be made tothe anatomical feature(s). The adjustment may have already been mappedto one or more data objects of a base visualization to be annotated,such as using mapping techniques described above.

The geometric modification may be specified in the input received inblock 822 in any suitable manner. In some embodiments, for example, afactor by which to increase a size of one or more dimensions of ananatomic feature may be set, which may be a constant amount, a scalingfactor, or other factor. The factor may be a value or an equation, orspecified in any other suitable manner. As another example, in someembodiments an equation or set of values defining a new dimension orshape for an anatomical feature may be received.

In block 824, the visualization facility generates graphics includingthe visualization as modified with the geometric modification identifiedby the input received in block 822. As discussed above in connectionwith FIG. 8A, the visualization facility may generate the graphics inblock 824 by rendering graphics instructions using a graphics library,including by rendering graphics instructions set out in a graphicslibrary API like OpenGL or WebGL. In such a case, graphics instructionsmay be stored by data objects of a base visualization that relate to theanatomical feature(s) identified in block 822, and/or may be generatedby the visualization facility from information stored by the dataobjects. The visualization may modify such graphics instructions basedon the geometric modification that is to be made, either by editing thegraphics instructions stored by the data objects or by editing theinformation stored by the data objects so as to generate differentgraphics instructions. The manner in which the geometric modification ismade may depend on a manner in which the modification is specified inblock 822. For example, if the geometric modification is identified by afactor (e.g., expand every dimension by 1 cm, or render with 2× size),that factor may be used to modify the existing geometric information ofthe graphics instructions or data objects. As another example, if thegeometric modification indicates a substitute dimension or shape, thatsubstitute dimension or shape may be used to replace the existinggeometric information of the graphics instructions or data objects.

Once the graphics are generated in block 824, the visualization facilityoutputs the graphics in block 826. The output may be to a display, to amemory, or to a network, as should be appreciated from the foregoingdiscussion of FIG. 6. The process 820 then ends.

FIG. 8C illustrates another example process 840 for visualizing aneffect of a particular medical condition (or injury, result of anoperation, etc.) on anatomy. The process 840 begins in block 842, inwhich a visualization facility receives a specification of an adjustmentto be made, which identifies a particular medical condition. In block844, based on the identification of the medical condition, thevisualization facility retrieves from a data store an indication of ananatomical feature to which that medical condition relates and anidentification of a geometric modification to be made to visualize thatmedical condition. The data store may include information on multipledifferent medical conditions (and injuries, results of operations, etc.)and geometric modifications that may be made to visualize each, such asthe data store 106 discussed above in connection with FIG. 1A.

Once the geometric modification for visualizing the medical conditionhas been retrieved, the geometric modification may be used in generationand output of graphics in blocks 846, 848. The operations of blocks 846,848 may be similar to those discussed above in connection with blocks824, 826, of FIG. 8B and therefore, for the sake of brevity, will not bediscussed further herein. Once the graphics are output in block 848, theprocess 840 ends.

While not illustrated in FIG. 8C, it should be appreciated that, in someembodiments and for some inputs, the visualization facility maydetermine that there is no pre-stored information for visualizing of theparticular medical condition specified. In response to such adetermination, the visualization facility may output a message forpresentation to a user identifying that the visualization facility doesnot have sufficient information to effect the requested visualizationand requesting additional information. The user may be given the option,for example, to input specific parameters for a geometric modification.In such a case, the visualization facility may proceed with a processlike the one discussed above in connection with FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8D illustrates a flowchart for a process 860 that may be used insome embodiments for visualizing an effect of a particular medicalcondition (or injury, result of an operation, etc.) on anatomy. Incontrast to the process 840 of FIG. 8C, which included makingmodifications to a base visualization to effect the visualization, theprocess 860 of FIG. 8D may include changing the base visualization. Asdiscussed above in connection with visualizations 104 of FIG. 1A, insome embodiments a visualization facility may be configured with one ormore base visualizations that already account for one or more variationsfrom a “normal” or “healthy” anatomy to visualize a different state ofthe anatomy, such as a different state resulting from an injury,disease, medical condition, or other factor that may impact anatomy.

The process 860 begins in block 862, in which the visualization facilityreceives input specifying an adjustment, which relates to a medicalcondition to be visualized. In response to receipt of the inputidentifying the medical condition, the visualization facility determinesthat there is a corresponding visualization for the medical condition,and in block 864 retrieves that visualization and corresponding dataobjects. The visualization facility may then in block 866 rendergraphics based on that visualization, including using techniquesdescribed above for generation or processing of graphics instructions.In addition, in block 866, the visualization facility may make one ormore further adjustments to the retrieved visualization, such as usingany of the techniques described herein. The generation of the graphicsin block 866, and the output of the graphics in block 868, may besimilar to those discussed above in connection with blocks 824, 826, ofFIG. 8B and therefore, for the sake of brevity, will not be discussedfurther herein. Once the graphics are output in block 868, the process860 ends.

While not illustrated in FIG. 8D, as with FIG. 8C, it should beappreciated that, in some embodiments and for some inputs, thevisualization facility may determine that there is no pre-storedinformation for visualizing of the particular medical conditionspecified. In response to such a determination, the visualizationfacility may output a message for presentation to a user identifyingthat the visualization facility does not have sufficient information toeffect the requested visualization and requesting additionalinformation. The user may be given the option, for example, to inputspecific parameters for a geometric modification. In such a case, thevisualization facility may proceed with a process like the one discussedabove in connection with FIG. 8B.

Various techniques are described above for generating a visualizationbased on input describing an adjustment to be made to the visualization.In some embodiments, an adjusted visualization generated by avisualization facility may be stored by a visualization system, toenable subsequent retrieval and display of that adjusted visualization.FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a process that may be performed in someembodiments for storage of a visualization.

As discussed above in connection with FIG. 1B, in some embodiments itmay be advantageous for all information connected to a patient's medicalhistory to stay on a client device, or within the control of a user of avisualization system rather than of an operator or provider of thevisualization system, in cases in which the two are different. Forexample, as discussed above in connection with FIG. 1B, in some casesone entity may provide base visualizations, predefined adjustments, anda visualization facility, and another entity may use those resources tocreate adjusted visualizations, including based on patient medicalinformation. This division of functionality may be advantageous wherethe patient medical information includes sensitive information, as thisdivision may enable creation of adjusted visualizations without transferof the sensitive information to the entity that initially supplied theresources.

The process 900 of FIG. 9 may provide similar advantages, by enablingstorage of information regarding an adjusted visualization withoutstorage of sensitive data by a party other than a medical provider. Forexample, an entity that operates a visualization facility to generate anadjusted visualization may further operate the visualization facility toperform the process 900 of FIG. 9 and store the adjusted visualizationin its own data store.

The process 900 begins in block 902, in which a visualization facilityreceives an instruction to store a current adjusted visualization. Inresponse, in block 904, the visualization facility accesses informationdescribing a current adjusted visualization. The information describingthe adjusted visualization may include information describing a basevisualization that was adjusted to create the adjusted visualization, aswell as a roster of one, two, or more adjustments that were made toproduce the adjusted visualization. The information on the basevisualization may identify the base visualization in any suitablemanner, including by identifying the base visualization as one of thevisualizations 102, 104 discussed above in connection with FIG. 1A. Theinformation on the adjustments may include information that was input tothe visualization facility to make the adjustments or information thatwas generated by the visualization facility in response to an input, orany other suitable information that may be stored to re-create theadjustments. By storing information on the base visualization and theone or more adjustments that were made, when this information issubsequently retrieved and processed, the identified adjustments may berepeated by the visualization facility to adjust the identified basevisualization, and by doing so recreate the adjusted visualization. Theaccessed information is stored in block 906.

In addition, in some embodiments, in block 908 the visualizationfacility may additionally store information on a current display of theadjusted visualization. The information on the current display mayinclude information identifying a current “view” of the visualization,such as a perspective from which the visualization is being viewed ascurrently shown in a display (which may be known as a camera angle), acurrent zoom level of the visualization, a position of a light sourcewithin the visualization (if applicable), or other information thatregulates a manner of display of a visualization. By storing thisinformation in block 906, when the visualization facility re-renders theadjusted visualization using the information stored in block 904, thefacility may additionally tune the display of the re-rendered adjustedvisualization to match a current display of the visualization at thetime the instruction is received in block 902.

Once the information is stored in blocks 904, 906, the process 900 ends.

The example of FIG. 9 was discussed in connection with storing anidentification of a base visualization as well as an identification ofadjustments to be made. While some embodiments may operate in thismanner, it should be appreciated that embodiments are not so limited.Rather than storing this information, in some embodiments graphics dataor other information for an adjusted visualization may be stored. Forexample, the adjusted visualization may be stored as graphics data that,when provided to a graphics system of a computing device (e.g., a driverfor a graphics card) can be output for display. The adjustedvisualization may additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, bestored as instructions for generating such graphics data, with theinstructions set out using any suitable graphics instruction set,including according to a graphics library API (e.g., OpenGL, WebGL,etc.). The adjusted visualization may additionally or alternatively bestored, in some embodiments, as a hierarchy of data objects, similar tothe hierarchy 102B described in detail above in connection with FIG. 1A,that include information on how to render one or more anatomicalfeatures. Embodiments are not limited to storing information on avisualization in any particular manner.

Techniques operating according to the principles described herein may beimplemented in any suitable manner. Included in the discussion above area series of flow charts showing the steps and acts of various processesthat generate adjusted three-dimensional visualizations of anatomy. Theprocessing and decision blocks of the flow charts above represent stepsand acts that may be included in algorithms that carry out these variousprocesses. Algorithms derived from these processes may be implemented assoftware integrated with and directing the operation of one or moresingle- or multi-purpose processors, may be implemented asfunctionally-equivalent circuits such as a Digital Signal Processing(DSP) circuit or an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), ormay be implemented in any other suitable manner. It should beappreciated that the flow charts included herein do not depict thesyntax or operation of any particular circuit or of any particularprogramming language or type of programming language. Rather, the flowcharts illustrate the functional information one skilled in the art mayuse to fabricate circuits or to implement computer software algorithmsto perform the processing of a particular apparatus carrying out thetypes of techniques described herein. It should also be appreciatedthat, unless otherwise indicated herein, the particular sequence ofsteps and/or acts described in each flow chart is merely illustrative ofthe algorithms that may be implemented and can be varied inimplementations and embodiments of the principles described herein.

Accordingly, in some embodiments, the techniques described herein may beembodied in computer-executable instructions implemented as software,including as application software, system software, firmware,middleware, embedded code, or any other suitable type of computer code.Such computer-executable instructions may be written using any of anumber of suitable programming languages and/or programming or scriptingtools, and also may be compiled as executable machine language code orintermediate code that is executed on a framework or virtual machine.

When techniques described herein are embodied as computer-executableinstructions, these computer-executable instructions may be implementedin any suitable manner, including as a number of functional facilities,each providing one or more operations to complete execution ofalgorithms operating according to these techniques. A “functionalfacility,” however instantiated, is a structural component of a computersystem that, when integrated with and executed by one or more computers,causes the one or more computers to perform a specific operational role.A functional facility may be a portion of or an entire software element.For example, a functional facility may be implemented as a function of aprocess, or as a discrete process, or as any other suitable unit ofprocessing. If techniques described herein are implemented as multiplefunctional facilities, each functional facility may be implemented inits own way; all need not be implemented the same way. Additionally,these functional facilities may be executed in parallel and/or serially,as appropriate, and may pass information between one another using ashared memory on the computer(s) on which they are executing, using amessage passing protocol, or in any other suitable way.

Generally, functional facilities include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionalityof the functional facilities may be combined or distributed as desiredin the systems in which they operate. In some implementations, one ormore functional facilities carrying out techniques herein may togetherform a complete software package. These functional facilities may, inalternative embodiments, be adapted to interact with other, unrelatedfunctional facilities and/or processes, to implement a software programapplication.

Some exemplary functional facilities have been described herein forcarrying out one or more tasks. It should be appreciated, though, thatthe functional facilities and division of tasks described is merelyillustrative of the type of functional facilities that may implement theexemplary techniques described herein, and that embodiments are notlimited to being implemented in any specific number, division, or typeof functional facilities. In some implementations, all functionality maybe implemented in a single functional facility. It should also beappreciated that, in some implementations, some of the functionalfacilities described herein may be implemented together with orseparately from others (i.e., as a single unit or separate units), orsome of these functional facilities may not be implemented.

Computer-executable instructions implementing the techniques describedherein (when implemented as one or more functional facilities or in anyother manner) may, in some embodiments, be encoded on one or morecomputer-readable media to provide functionality to the media.Computer-readable media include magnetic media such as a hard diskdrive, optical media such as a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital VersatileDisk (DVD), a persistent or non-persistent solid-state memory (e.g.,Flash memory, Magnetic RAM, etc.), or any other suitable storage media.Such a computer-readable medium may be implemented in any suitablemanner, including as computer-readable storage media 1006 of FIG. 10described below (i.e., as a portion of a computing device 1000) or as astand-alone, separate storage medium. As used herein, “computer-readablemedia” (also called “computer-readable storage media”) refers totangible storage media. Tangible storage media are non-transitory andhave at least one physical, structural component. In a“computer-readable medium,” as used herein, at least one physical,structural component has at least one physical property that may bealtered in some way during a process of creating the medium withembedded information, a process of recording information thereon, or anyother process of encoding the medium with information. For example, amagnetization state of a portion of a physical structure of acomputer-readable medium may be altered during a recording process.

In some, but not all, implementations in which the techniques may beembodied as computer-executable instructions, these instructions may beexecuted on one or more suitable computing device(s) operating in anysuitable computer system, including the exemplary computer system ofFIG. 1A or 1B, or one or more computing devices (or one or moreprocessors of one or more computing devices) may be programmed toexecute the computer-executable instructions. A computing device orprocessor may be programmed to execute instructions when theinstructions are stored in a manner accessible to the computing deviceor processor, such as in a data store (e.g., an on-chip cache orinstruction register, a computer-readable storage medium accessible viaa bus, etc.). Functional facilities comprising these computer-executableinstructions may be integrated with and direct the operation of a singlemulti-purpose programmable digital computing device, a coordinatedsystem of two or more multi-purpose computing device sharing processingpower and jointly carrying out the techniques described herein, a singlecomputing device or coordinated system of computing device (co-locatedor geographically distributed) dedicated to executing the techniquesdescribed herein, one or more Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) forcarrying out the techniques described herein, or any other suitablesystem.

FIG. 10 illustrates one exemplary implementation of a computing devicein the form of a computing device 1000 that may be used in a systemimplementing techniques described herein, although others are possible.It should be appreciated that FIG. 10 is intended neither to be adepiction of necessary components for a computing device to operate inaccordance with the principles described herein, nor a comprehensivedepiction.

Computing device 1000 may comprise at least one processor 1002, anetwork adapter 1004, and computer-readable storage media 1006.Computing device 1000 may be, for example, a desktop or laptop personalcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart mobile phone, aserver, or any other suitable computing device. Network adapter 1004 maybe any suitable hardware and/or software to enable the computing device1000 to communicate wired and/or wirelessly with any other suitablecomputing device over any suitable computing network. The computingnetwork may include wireless access points, switches, routers, gateways,and/or other networking equipment as well as any suitable wired and/orwireless communication medium or media for exchanging data between twoor more computers, including the Internet. Computer-readable media 1006may be adapted to store data to be processed and/or instructions to beexecuted by processor 1002. Processor 1002 enables processing of dataand execution of instructions. The data and instructions may be storedon the computer-readable storage media 1006 and may, for example, enablecommunication between components of the computing device 1000.

The data and instructions stored on computer-readable storage media 1006may comprise computer-executable instructions implementing techniqueswhich operate according to the principles described herein. In theexample of FIG. 10, computer-readable storage media 1006 storescomputer-executable instructions implementing various facilities andstoring various information as described above. Computer-readablestorage media 1006 may store a visualization facility 1008 that mayimplement one or more of the techniques described above. The storagemedium 1006 may additionally include information on one or morevisualizations 1010, which may include information discussed inconnection with visualizations 102, 104 of FIG. 1A. Information one ormore predefined adjustments 1012 may also be stored, as discussed abovein connection with predefined adjustments 106 of FIG. 1A, and one ormore snapshots 1014 that are stored copies of generated adjustedvisualizations, as discussed above in connection with FIG. 9.

While not illustrated in FIG. 10, a computing device may additionallyhave one or more components and peripherals, including input and outputdevices. These devices can be used, among other things, to present auser interface. Examples of output devices that can be used to provide auser interface include printers or display screens for visualpresentation of output and speakers or other sound generating devicesfor audible presentation of output. Examples of input devices that canbe used for a user interface include keyboards, and pointing devices,such as mice, touch pads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, acomputing device may receive input information through speechrecognition or in other audible format.

Embodiments have been described where the techniques are implemented incircuitry and/or computer-executable instructions. It should beappreciated that some embodiments may be in the form of a method, ofwhich at least one example has been provided. The acts performed as partof the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly,embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an orderdifferent than illustrated, which may include performing some actssimultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts in illustrativeembodiments.

Various aspects of the embodiments described above may be used alone, incombination, or in a variety of arrangements not specifically discussedin the embodiments described in the foregoing and is therefore notlimited in its application to the details and arrangement of componentsset forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings.For example, aspects described in one embodiment may be combined in anymanner with aspects described in other embodiments.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in theclaims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote anypriority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or thetemporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are usedmerely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain namefrom another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinalterm) to distinguish the claim elements.

Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including,” “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” andvariations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listedthereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example,instance, or illustration. Any embodiment, implementation, process,feature, etc. described herein as exemplary should therefore beunderstood to be an illustrative example and should not be understood tobe a preferred or advantageous example unless otherwise indicated.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment, it isto be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, andimprovements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Suchalterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part ofthis disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope ofthe principles described herein. Accordingly, the foregoing descriptionand drawings are by way of example only.

1. A method of operating a computing system to generatecomputer-readable data representing a three-dimensional visualization ofat least a portion of anatomy of a human body, the method comprising:receiving, at the at least one computing device, a specification of anadjustment to be made to a base three-dimensional visualization of theat least the portion of the anatomy of the human body, wherein thespecification of the adjustment comprises an identification of theadjustment to make and an indication of at least one anatomical featureof the human body to which the adjustment relates; mapping, with atleast one processor of the at least one computing device, the indicationof the at least one anatomical feature of the human body to at least oneobject of a hierarchy of objects, wherein each object of the hierarchyof objects corresponds to one or more anatomical features of the humanbody and to one or more elements of the base three-dimensionalvisualization; and generating, with at least one processor of the atleast one first computing device, an adjusted three-dimensionalvisualization of the at least the part of the anatomy of the human bodyby adjusting the one or more elements of the base three-dimensionalvisualization based at least in part on the adjustment, wherein the oneor more portions of the base three-dimensional visualization that areadjusted correspond to the one or more objects that were mapped to theat least one anatomical feature indicated by the specification of theadjustment, and wherein the adjusted three-dimensional visualizationincludes the adjustment at the one or more portions that correspond tothe one or more objects.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the at leastone computing device is configured to receive the specificationcomprising the indication of the at least one anatomical feature in aplurality of formats; and the mapping comprises mapping from a format,of the plurality of formats, in which the indication of the at least oneanatomical feature is specified to the hierarchy of objects.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein: the mapping comprises selecting a manner inwhich to perform the translation based on a format of the indication ofthe at least one anatomical feature.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein:receiving the specification comprising the indication of the at leastone anatomical feature comprises receiving a specification comprising anidentifier for the at least one anatomical feature in a medicalontology; and mapping the indication to the one or more objectscomprises mapping the identifier in the medical ontology to the one ormore objects.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving thespecification comprising the identifier for the at least one anatomicalfeature in the medical ontology comprises receiving an alphanumericidentifier in a medical ontology.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein:receiving the specification comprising the identification of theadjustment to make and the identifier for the at least one anatomicalfeature in the medical ontology comprises receiving a code in themedical ontology for a medical condition that affects one or moreparticular anatomical features; and mapping the indication to the one ormore objects comprises identifying the one or more particular anatomicalfeatures from the code in the medical ontology.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein: receiving the specification comprising the indication of theat least one anatomical feature comprises receiving a specificationcomprising an identifier for an anatomical system of the human body, theanatomical system comprising the at least one anatomical feature; andmapping the indication to the one or more objects comprises mapping theidentifier for the anatomical system to the one or more objects thatcorrespond to the at least one anatomical feature based on theidentifier for the anatomical system.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein:the hierarchy of objects comprises a first node for the anatomicalsystem and at least one second node, associated with the first node inthe hierarchy and below the first node in the hierarchy, associated withthe at least one anatomical feature, the at least one second node beingthe one or more objects; and mapping the identifier to the one or moreobjects comprises mapping the identifier to the first node.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: receiving the specification comprising theindication of the at least one anatomical feature comprises receiving aspecification comprising an identifier for a portion of an organ of thehuman body; and mapping the indication to the one or more objectscomprises mapping the identifier for the portion to the one or moreobjects that correspond to the at least one anatomical feature.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: receiving the specification comprising theindication of the at least one anatomical feature comprises receiving aspecification comprising an identifier for a portion of an organ of thehuman body; and mapping the indication to the one or more objectscomprises mapping the identifier for the portion to the one or moreobjects that correspond to the portion of the organ.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein: receiving the specification comprising the indicationof the at least one anatomical feature comprises receiving aspecification comprising a coordinate in a coordinate system of adisplay of a visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy;and mapping the indication to the one or more objects comprisesidentifying the at least one anatomical feature at least in part bydetermining an anatomical feature that corresponds to content of thevisualization displayed at the coordinate.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the coordinate of the coordinate system is a three-dimensionalcoordinate of a three-dimensional coordinate system.
 13. The method ofclaim 1, wherein: receiving the specification of the adjustment to makecomprises receiving a specification of a medical condition to visualizein the adjusted three-dimensional visualization and an identification ofone or more anatomical features affected by the medical condition; andgenerating the adjusted three-dimensional visualization comprisesgenerating a three-dimensional visualization of the at least the portionof the anatomy of the human body with the medical condition.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein generating the three-dimensionalvisualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the humanbody with the medical condition comprises generating a three-dimensionalvisualization with the one or more portions that relate to the one ormore anatomical features affected by the medical condition having atleast one geometric modification as compared to the basethree-dimensional visualization.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein:the indication of the at least one anatomical feature indicates at leastone organ affected by the medical condition and to be visualized withthe medical condition; the method further comprises retrieving dataindicating how to visualize an effect of the medical condition on the atleast one organ, wherein retrieving the data comprises retrieving from adata set of geometric modifications to be made to visualize each of aplurality of medical conditions, and where retrieving the data comprisesretrieving the data based on the medical condition; and generating thethree-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of the humanbody with the medical condition comprises making at least one geometricmodification to at least one geometric dimension of at least one modelof the at least one organ in the base three-dimensional visualizationbased at least in part on the data.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein:generating the adjusted three-dimensional visualization from the basethree-dimensional visualization comprises generating an animatedthree-dimensional visualization; the base three-dimensionalvisualization comprises information indicating a normal movement of theat least the portion of the anatomy of the human body; and making the atleast one geometric modification comprises making at least one geometricmodification to at least one geometric dimension of the basethree-dimensional visualization that affects an animation of theadjusted three-dimensional visualization to reflect an abnormal movementof the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human body due to themedical condition.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein: the basethree-dimensional visualization comprises information indicating anormal appearance of the at least the portion of the anatomy of thehuman body; and making the at least one geometric modification comprisesmaking at least one change to at least one geometric dimension of thebase three-dimensional visualization to affect an appearance of theadjusted three-dimensional visualization to reflect an abnormalappearance of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the human bodydue to the medical condition.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein: thespecification of the adjustment is a first specification of a firstadjustment to make, the indication of the at least one anatomicalfeature is a first indication of at least one first anatomical feature,and the medical condition is a first medical condition; the methodfurther comprises receiving, at the at least one first computing device,a second specification of a second adjustment to make to the basethree-dimensional visualization of the at least the portion of theanatomy of the human body, wherein the second specification of thesecond adjustment comprises an identification of a second medicalcondition to visualize and a second indication of at least oneanatomical feature of the human body to visualize with the secondmedical condition; and generating the adjusted three-dimensionalvisualization further comprises generating a three-dimensionalvisualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy of the humanbody with the second medical condition.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein: the first indication for the first adjustment identifies ahuman organ to be visualized with the first medical condition, the humanorgan being included in the at least the portion of the anatomy of thehuman body; the second indication for the second adjustment identifiesthat that second medical condition applies to an entirety of a humanbody; generating the adjusted three-dimensional visualization comprisesmaking at least one first geometric modification to the at least theportion of the anatomy in the base three-dimensional visualization toeffect a visualization of the at least the portion of the anatomy withthe first medical condition and making at least one second geometricmodification to the at least the portion of the anatomy in the basethree-dimensional visualization to effect a visualization of the atleast the portion of the anatomy with the second medical condition. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein: the first indication for the firstadjustment identifies a human organ to be visualized with the firstmedical condition, the human organ being included in the at least theportion of the anatomy of the human body; the second indication for thesecond adjustment identifies that that second medical condition appliesto an entirety of a human body; generating the adjustedthree-dimensional visualization comprises making at least one firstgeometric modification to the at least the portion of the anatomy in thebase three-dimensional visualization to effect a visualization of the atleast the portion of the anatomy with the first medical condition andretrieving a three-dimensional visualization of a human body with thesecond medical condition to serve as the base three-dimensionalvisualization. 21-32. (canceled)